The silence after rebellion is louder than any scream.
Han Jiwoon wandered the alleyways of the lower district, no longer guided by missions, markers, or the artificial voice of the system. He was Unbound—a term both terrifying and liberating.
"No missions. No commands. No limits."
"Then why do I feel so… lost?"
For the first time, Jiwoon realized something bitter:
The system hadn't just controlled him. It had given him purpose.
New Instinct: Sin Sense
Without the system's overlay, Jiwoon began to sense sin organically.
He didn't see names or numbers anymore—he felt guilt as pressure in the air, heard lies in distorted echoes, tasted greed on his tongue.
It was overwhelming.
He entered a marketplace.
To everyone else, it looked normal.
To him, it was a storm of rot.
"So this is what the world really is…"
He clutched his head. Whispers, pain, blood… all swirled into noise. Until—
A clear voice cut through.
"Hey. You look like you're about to pass out."
A New Ally Appears
A woman handed him a water bottle. Tall, toned, wearing reinforced gloves and a calm expression.
"Name's Seo Mira. You?"
"…Jiwoon."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're that rogue hunter, huh?"
He stiffened. She didn't move.
"Relax. I'm not here to kill you. I left the system, too. Months ago."
The Underground Resistance
Mira led Jiwoon to an old subway tunnel—now converted into a shelter lit by low neon lights.
There, he met others like him: former Hunters, civilians saved by them, engineers trying to reverse-engineer the system's architecture.
They called themselves The Null Order.
"We don't trust the system," Mira explained.
"But we don't trust demons either. That includes the one inside you."
A Warning in the Dark
That night, Jiwoon dreamed of the two-headed Kirin-Dragon again.
But this time, it spoke to him directly.
"You severed the leash.
But do not forget—freedom is the first lie of the damned."
He awoke in sweat.
The shadows on the wall seemed to breathe.